Date: Fri Nov 12, 2004 9:19 am
Subject: Re: Hello from armpit America

Just yesterday Bret and I were talking about the fallout from the 'gay marriage' issue and votes.

We talked about all the ways that queers offer support and nurturing, the roles we are in, and how not visible those rolls often are. Things like being the family member to take in an ageing or ill relative when all the married and child laden siblings say "Oh, I can't!" Or how gay men are disproportionately in careers like nursing, teaching, massage therapy, the arts.

I said that it feels like it is time for queer people nation wide to begin organizing boycotts, strikes and visibility actions.

Next spring for Pride week, don't go to the park and shop and drink and consume the popular corporatist culture!

Vast numbers of queers (fags, dykes, gender outlaws, etc) in an organized way all need to say NO to going to work for a noticeable period, or call their siblings and say "you HAVE to take mom for a week" or in myriad other ways visibly and with a sense of justice resist being the caregivers, leaders and do-ers in our culture. That may be difficult, even scary to contemplate. Some folks would get fired. Some family connections may be sorely tested or fail. Jail time is not unlikely in this 'Patriot Act' era.

It would also be difficult because we WANT to do the jobs we do. We want and are fed by our roles as caregivers, as compassionate supporters of much that is beautiful and meaningful in our culture. That too would be part of the sacrifice, and a place to draw some of our magical power.

Couple that with media and teach-ins. Some older queers must remember teach-ins -- now days I guess they are replaced by 'indy media centers' and that's great.

Where I am aiming is that black America did not get where it is by one major act of disobedience. We need more than just one Stonewall riot all those years ago. Think bus boycotts. Lunch counter sit-ins. 5 day marches (yes girl, 5 days of wearing down the shoe leather). I drove the Selma-Montgomery civil rights march route a few years ago - it was moving to imagine walking 12 miles a day and sleeping in fields for 4 nights - all under the threat of deadly violence. Wow.

I think that what is going on now in the culture shows us several things:
First, that we have actually gained a lot already -- and that folks threatened by that change are now pushing back hard.
Second, that the tactic that emerged in the mid-90s and is so evident in the modern 'pride' festival is horribly flawed: we will not gain our rights by being a recognized economic bloc based on shopping or 'earning power.'
Third, that gaining access to our inalienable rights takes a lot of organizing and sweat and sometimes physical risks.

So what do faeries and tribers think? Please speak your truth. I am not just pissing in the wind here.

love and outrage,
E!ureka